Plot: American actress Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams) comes to England to make a movie with the older Laurence Olivier (Kenneth Branagh). Marilyn has emotional and medical problems while making the movie, and assistant director Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne) keeps her company. Marilyn flirts with Colin, and it helps her mood and her acting.
Great acting and directing make this a fun movie despite its simple storyline. Michelle Williams shows us both troubled Marilyn and the showgirl Marilyn, and the transition between the two. Marilyn has these impish flashes of personality that everyone loves, and somehow actress Michelle is able to channel that.
This is a well crafted movie: I liked the photography and the set design. There are a few good songs; Michelle can sing on key, and she has a great dance sequence.
[Minor Spoiler] True to the title, My Week with Marilyn, only lasts a week, and at the end of the week, it peters out. On one hand, I say I better dramatic conclusion would have pushed the film over the top, and on the other hand, I say director Curtis was brave enough skip aHollywood ending. In any case, the movie does not have the standard dramatic arc, and it ends with Olivier quoting lines from on old play.
